5-Minute Cleaning: Results

So... remember when I was talking about my 5-minute plan, and how I was hoping to keep it up for a month, or at least 2 days in a row. Well, I clearly didn't account for this weekend when I had 5 major cake orders, a wedding to attend and the bridal shower of my best friend, for whom I am the matron of honour. Yeah, so that whole 2-days-in-a-row thing didn't quite work out as planned. However, being the ever-positive soul that I am, I will focus on the fact that I did manage 2 rooms. Yippee! 

I don't want you to be scared when you see couple of the following pictures. No, my house wasn't hit by a freak, indoor whirlwind. No, we weren't ransacked and robbed. And no, we weren't attacked by a herd of angry wildebeests. This is just your standard after-school ridiculousness. 

My front hall: 

I feel a little queasy looking at this!

 Note the Man's sandals, artfully posed as if walking out the door, the papers that are seemingly thrown out of backpacks with disgust. Half a bathing suit. (?!?!?!) The 50lb box of kitty litter. *shudder*

After 5 minutes:

Not a terrible job.

Yes, the kitty litter was still there (it has since been removed) but only because I could not carry that thing down the stairs. I can carry a 50lb kid up to bed, but this box did not elicit the same feeling of love from me. 

Cringe-worthy: 

I want to say it looks worse that it really is, but it really is worse than it looks!

Is it sad that I couldn't find a clear place to put my "Before" text? 

After 5 minutes:

Hey! There's a floor!

So, here's the scoop again: yes, I truly took only 5 minutes to clean. I obviously didn't do a deep-clean, but I also tried not to "stash and dash". I gave myself an additional 5 minutes to put things back in their proper places if they didn't belong in the family room. [If you're wondering: no, we don't have a tv.]It's not perfect, but at least if someone pops in, they won't immediately start offering condolences and apologize for dropping in at such a trying time. 

I think the most important success factor here was two-fold: First off, I set the timer for only 5 minutes. Secondly, I gave myself permission to stop once that timer rang. I knew that once it went off, I could move on to the next project, or if I wanted to sweep (which, crazily enough, I did!) I could.  That truly is the key. Normally I think that if I'm going to do it, then I better do it perfectly, or why bother with it at all. But even a little bit can make a huge difference, and perfection can come later [read: never]. It's pretty amazing how much I can do in just 5 minutes!

What can you do in 5 minutes? Have any cleaning tips for me?